Games

“We actually wished it this fashion; to point out the distinction within the scale between Rebirth and Revelation” – Naoki Hamaguchi on Ultimate Fantasy VII Revelation’s a number of media demos


There’s hardly been a recreation I’ve performed at a preview session that was as instantly overwhelming as Ultimate Fantasy VII Revelation. To the purpose the place once I’d performed it a number of weeks previous to Tokyo Sport Present, I intentionally opted to attend till after I might had an opportunity to play the second – way more linear – demo designed for the present ground, so I might get my bearings. 

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The primary demo I might performed for Ultimate Fantasy VII: Revelation was precisely the identical because the one Josh, Scott and Alex had all performed. In the event you’ve learn any of their impressions from earlier within the month, you most likely have already got an concept of what I imply once I say that it is an amazing demo; gamers supplied so many alternative instructions to move, however with solely a lot route. You possibly can play Queen’s Blood, you may discover both of the brand new zones, or you may revisit areas from 2024’s Ultimate Fantasy Rebirth – however even with utilizing simply the naked minimal time allotted to the tutorial, the hour we needed to discover the world was at all times going to be restrictive. 

Whereas my first thought whereas taking part in wasn’t even a lot a thought however somewhat a panic about what the following hour of my life would appear to be, midway via my play session a coherent one did start to type – what if all this noise was being exacerbated by the constraints of a preview session? The nexus for this wasn’t something particular; I used to be in the course of finishing one sidequest, chasing a chocobo throughout Mideel, once I ended up operating throughout a wholly totally different sidequest NPC – one which appeared on my map, however I used to be a number of “Occasion Ranges” away from with the ability to settle for. The NPC in query even shooed me away till I might come again as soon as my group’s collective power had grown.

In a method, I suppose I used to be unable to simply accept that Revelation as an RPG could be so free-form that gamers would have so little route when it might come to which order to sort out aspect actions; this one, singular sidequest advised that that is certainly the case, together with particular encampments of enemies dotted throughout Mideel significantly stronger than my celebration. It pointed to if not a linear development, a construction to exploration that gamers might latch onto throughout the never-ending storm of goal markers. You clearly aren’t meant to only do all the things in a zone the primary time you see it; even when it isn’t instantly apparent, there’s steerage baked into Revelation’s open world.

Heading into Tokyo Sport Present, I wished to attempt to crack the code for what the expertise of taking part in Ultimate Fantasy VII: Revelation would truly really feel like as soon as it reached my palms early subsequent 12 months. I had the chance to go hands-on with the Crater section close to the start of the sport, a linear second that feels prefer it’s out of a special recreation solely in comparison with the open world section I might performed only a bit over every week prior. Why did it really feel so alien, although? The extra I simmered on the 2 demos, I believed again on my expertise with Rebirth, and remembered how that recreation’s construction alternated linear set-pieces and open-world exploration moments – the Crater demo merely jogged my memory that these moments do nonetheless exist in Revelation, which I ought to have anticipated anyway contemplating the construction of the unique Ultimate Fantasy VII.

I nonetheless did not know precisely what to make of Revelation’s total construction, however I did have sufficient items of the puzzle to start out piecing it along with some assist – and what higher assist than the sport’s Director, Naoki Hamaguchi? Shortly after my demo, I had the chance to choose his thoughts about numerous components of the sport’s manufacturing:

[Note: This interview was transcribed from a recording mere feet away from Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show 2026 booth.]

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RPG Website: It looks as if such a battle to correctly convey what kind of an RPG [Final Fantasy VII: Revelation] is; the demo that we had a pair weeks in the past was clearly very open-ended and there was a lot to cowl – an excessive amount of, actually, to get a grip of how the sport will play in a much less structured setting. In the meantime, this demo could be very, very linear. I am curious; how has the staff grappled with the problem of not simply ending up improvement with the sport, but additionally attempting to correctly showcase what the sport is in-person to individuals outdoors the corporate?

Naoki Hamaguchi: Throughout Remake, Rebirth and Revalation, we’re attempting to do a couple of various things. For Remake,  the very 1st recreation within the Remake trilogy, it was very story centered. It was principally on rails – like a rollercoaster, truly. For Rebirth, it turned open world, and one factor I particularly wished to concentrate on was the choice to – somewhat than get misplaced on this world and simply do all the things – was to maintain Remake’s story focus. I at all times wished that to be an choice; I really feel somewhat strongly about that.

So, for Revelation, it was the identical as Rebirth as nicely. There was at all times going to be an choice to only keep centered on the story. I believe with the 2 demos, we’re permitting individuals to see “Have a look at this enormous open world, have a look at all of the issues you are able to do!” after which with this demo at TGS it is actually story centered and linear. I believe we managed to point out what the sport is able to with these two demos.

Ultimate Fantasy as a sequence is de facto all concerning the story and its characters, and that is one thing we wished to maintain from Rebirth as nicely, regardless of this enormous open world; one factor that actually caught with individuals was the characters, and the story. 

With the media demo, we wished to point out off the number of issues on provide, the dimensions of all the things that was on provide. So… the media previews had been largely optimistic. There was, after all, this suggestions alongside the traces of “Oh, is that this too huge? Perhaps it’s too huge!”, however that is sort of what we had been hoping for; we wished that response. Between then and now that is precisely what we had been hoping for, to point out off the number of recreation that is out there; this enormous, huge world alongside the linear story segments.
RPG Website: As a follow-up query, are you able to converse to how frequent these extra linear setpiece segments are, throughout Revelation as an entire?

Hamaguchi: It is form of much like the best way Rebirth works. You are locked into these moments the place the story ramps up, it brings you throughout the setting with a very good tempo and pace that takes you out of the open world, after which afterwards you are left again to your personal gadgets within the open world once more, till you are filed again right into a story second.

RPG Website: That is sort of what I anticipated; the explanation I requested is that Rebirth was sort of structured the place you did not have full entry to the open world till proper close to the tip of the sport; earlier than then you definitely had one thing of a sample the place you’d have a linear section, then an open section; then linear once more, and open once more, and so forth.

In the meantime, the demo I performed a couple of weeks in the past was Chapter 4, and principally the entire world was out there to me. How has the staff been attempting to maintain that very same feeling of the development between linear and open that was in Rebirth? If the construction is much like Rebirth, how is the staff planning to deal with that when the entire world is seemingly open to you so early on in Revelation?

Hamaguchi: Such as you stated, with Rebirth you unlock these sections of the world one after the other as you progress the story – after which on the finish, all of them come collectively. With Revelation, there are a number of areas that open up abruptly, and also you’re meant to hop round to every one somewhat than concentrate on a selected one, via these segments of the sport.

We actually wished it this fashion; to point out the distinction within the scale between Rebirth and Revelation. One instance of that’s how quests themselves work; if you happen to picked up a quest within the Grasslands in Rebirth, they might finish within the Grasslands. Simply for example, if you happen to decide up a quest within the Grasslands in Revelation it will not essentially conclude within the Grasslands; it should take you to different components of the world. In follow, although, the primary story progresses in an analogous vein to Rebirth, you are shifting beat by beat via the world.
RPG Website: You talked about earlier that the meant play expertise is for gamers to dip their toes in every space, and go from one to the opposite with out essentially ending up all the things in a specific space straight away; I seen in my play session a couple of weeks in the past that there was a quest marked on my map that I couldn’t entry but, as a result of my celebration stage wasn’t excessive sufficient. Is that a part of what the staff goes for? Within the sense that simply because you may see one thing on the map already, you are not essentially meant to entry it instantly earlier than heading out to the following space.

Hamaguchi: Roughly. That is one a part of how we’re attempting to dam individuals off so they do not tire themselves out from doing an excessive amount of without delay. Setting a excessive problem stage to sign you are not meant to sort out this proper now, or in instances like what you talked about – an precise stage barrier for entry, extra immediately saying “Hey, come again later!”

We have carried out a whole lot of interviews over the previous few months, and albeit that is the primary time somebody has realized that was a part of our design intention. I am fairly joyful that somebody lastly realized what we had been going for… [laughs]

RPG Website: I do know prior to now I’ve requested about a number of the challenges the staff has confronted with shifting over to multiplatform improvement for the Ultimate Fantasy VII Remake sequence; since then Remake and Rebirth have launched on Swap 2 and Xbox, and now Revelation has its launch date for all platforms without delay. How does the staff really feel concerning the journey to get right here?

Hamaguchi: I’ll say – I am very blessed to have the staff that I’ve, with the unbelievable engineers who’re really proficient. I wish to stress one thing, although; I hope gamers can perceive they need not fear concerning the multiplatform expertise, with regards to improvement.

The staff setup is such that we are able to have a section of the staff focus completely on the gameplay components, and depart all of the optimization work to an entire different staff which are all very proficient individuals. So that is the sort of setup we now have internally. We’re at all times studying feedback; followers are at all times doubting, saying issues like “oh, no, that is by no means gonna work on low spec {hardware}. There isn’t any method!”

To see all this doubt is disappointing, as a result of as we now have defined many instances throughout simply as many interviews, we now have separate groups devoted to specializing in the gameplay and a staff devoted to optimizing all the things. Please, simply imagine us!

RPG Website: Thanks once more in your time. Any final stuff you wish to share with followers?

Hamaguchi: I wish to thank everybody for all this consideration that Ultimate Fantasy VII: Revelation is getting; it means loads. As a creator, and as a fan who’s been the closest to this challenge as humanly attainable, and who has been engaged on it for 10 years – I’ll say we have made one thing actually, actually particular. So, I am actually wanting ahead to individuals experiencing it when it comes out on April 8.

Thanks once more to Sq. Enix and particularly Naoki Hamaguchi for the alternatives during the last a number of weeks; I really feel like I am starting to get a grasp for Ultimate Fantasy VII Revelation’s construction. We’ll need to see precisely how that holds up when it launches on April 8, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X|S, Nintendo Swap 2 and PC (Steam). Keep tuned for extra of our ideas within the months forward.